How It Happened
by Lotho's Cute Villainess Minion
Summary: Harry asks for advice and Percy ponders the beginnings of his relationship with Penelope.


**I got a little bored, decided to try my hand at this kind of thing. Oh well. Disclaimer, you get the idea.**

Oliver Wood reached out and placed his hand on Percy Weasley's wrist; the Prefect flinched away from the unexpected touch, though soon relaxed. Grinning, the Quidditch Captain took Percy's hand and guided it towards Penelope. "Come on, Perce, take her hand, and just ask her out, it's not that hard."

Both Penelope and Percy were turning crimson with embarassment. "Crikey, Oliver, at least let me do it for myself..." Percy's eyes dropped to the ground, and he stepped away from Oliver and the surrounding masses of people. It seemed too claustrophobic here, too loud, too pressing. There was a lump in his throat, inhibiting his speech. "Penelope -" He cleared his throat, trying not to sound too stupid. It seemed to be a lost cause. "Penelope, do you want to be my girlfriend?"

The girl hesitated for a moment; Percy's heart sank, and he began to prepare some kind of defense. Before he could,Penelope cut him off. "Are you serious, or are you just saying that to piss these guys off?"

Percy licked his lips, swallowing to try and melt the lump in his throat. "Yeah, I'm serious."

"Yeah, okay, then."

Her answer was so flippant that Percy's heart sank nonetheless. Had she meant it? Was she just joking around? He was so neurotic, or perhaps just so preoccupied with his own thoughts, or just too inexperienced with dealings of this kind with the opposite sex that he couldn't quite tell.

His heart was pounding so hard he thought it might burst out of his chest. "Really? Uh, cool." Realising, apparently for the first time, that he was holding her slender hand in his sweaty one, he squeezed it gently and then released his grip, turning and walking quite quickly away from the scene for a time; just long enough to get a grip on himself.

_"It's not that big a deal," Percy remarked airily, waving a hand casually towards the younger, darker-haired lad. "I asked Penelope out, you know, right in front of Oliver Wood and a bunch of other guys. All of whom, as I recall, were trying to set us up, yet none of them apparently noticed thatI had done it and they endeavored to set us up for quite some time afterwards." He finished folding a somewhat fadedblue shirt and placed it neatly in his trunk. "Is that all you were after, Harry?"_

_Harry fidgetted slightly, brilliant green eyes fixed on the ground not far from his feet. "What was your first kiss like?"_

_The Head Boy was startled. "That's a bit of a personal question, isn't it?"_

_"I mean -" Harry waved his hands vaguely. "I'm sorry if it's too personal, I just mean... was it when you asked her out? Your first date? Did she kiss you, or did you kiss her? You don't have to answer if you think it's too personal." The last sentence was rather rushed, as though not wanting to offend._

_"It's alright, just took me a little by surprise..." Percy replied, adjusting his glasses uncomfortably. "Well..."_

The two walked along the edge of the lake slowly, neither looking at the other, the only conversation vague and murmured. "Hey Penelope," Percy finally asked, looking up at her for the first time since they left the castle. His heart started pounding again, and the lump in his throat returned. His gaze dropped again to his hands, and he was surprised to notice how violently they were shaking. Biting his lower lip gently, he thrust them in his pockets and continued talking. "Were you, you know, serious, when you said you'd go out with me...?"

The girl suddenly appeared surprised, and a hint of worry flickered through her kaleidoscopic eyes. "Er, were you?"

"Yeah..." He whispered, not shifting his gaze from the ground.

"So was I, Percy," Penelope whispered, reaching out and gently caressing his upper arm. "I don't say things like that as a joke."

At this point, it only seemed natural to kiss her. He leaned forward and pecked her lightly on the lips, as he had doneto other girls once or twice in the past. That was about as far as he'd ever gone with a girl, and for the moment at least, Percy was content to leave it at that - to be honest, he was more than a little scared of taking the next step.

It was therefore quite reasonable, at least to him, when he nearly jumped out of his skin as he felt the tip of Penelope's tongue running against his lower lip; he reciprocated almost subconsciously, not sure of exactly what to do, but certain that even his inexperienced reciprocation was better than standing there like an idiot the whole while.

His first kiss. After dark. By the lake. It was like a terrible romance novel, it really was.

_"Your first kiss, ever?" Harry echoed, still standing in the doorway, a little surprised._

_"Yeah... well, don't be so surprised. If this all works out, wouldn't it be your first kiss?" Percy asked, though his voice was little above a murmur. Perhaps his suspicions had been right, and hehad beenunusually asexual for a large portion of his life._

_Harry nodded slightly, though he seemed quite reluctant to admit it. "Yeah, I suppose. But... not Penelope's first kiss?"_

_"She'd broken up with her last boyfriend not too long prior. Two months, I think. Or rather, he'd broken up with her. I don't really know why... Everyone thought that Penelope was still, like, completely hung up on him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that they had kissed twice in fifteen months."_

_"What?"_

Percy and Penelope had wandered back up towards the castle, and had been sitting in the Great Hall together, talking. They didn't really know each other as well as they might have liked, and there was a lot of catching up to be done. Most of the others had long since gone to bed - or, at least, had long since discreetly gone to the common room to give the new couple some alone time. It was amazing how much they had in common, considering how little they had known each other prior to that day.

As conversations do, theirs tapered off after a while. Suddenly, Percy realised that quite naturally during the course of the conversation, Penelope had come to be perched on his lap, and they were quite alone. Somehow, even to the inexperienced Percy, it seemed natural to place a quick kiss on her soft, pink lips. He was less shocked this time as she deepened the kiss, though he could not help the slight jump at the unfamiliar experience replaying itself.

Fingers brushed against what seemed like every inch of skinnot covered by Penelope's modest but slightly too small t-shirt and long pants, and Percy was delighted to feel her jump slightly at his gentle caress of her stomach;the slightgiggle that followed indicated the reason.He was, then, not the only strangely ticklish person. As her lips left his, their gazes met and they both smiled.

"Sorry, I'm a little ticklish..." Penelope, smiling sheepishly, apologised.

"It's no problem. I'm about to fall asleep -" Realising a moment too late that he had made what could easily be taken as a serious romantic _faux pas_, Percy shook his head and hastily amended his words. "I don't mean that, you know, you're a bad kisser or anything - I mean, you're not, I'm just really tired, because it's getting late, and it's so comfortable here with you..." His cheeks turned crimson as he finished his hasty addition lamely, silently cursing himself for his stupidity.

Penelope either didn't notice the error Percy was punishing himself so severely for, or didn't seem to take offense; instead, she smiled again, alittle shyly, and turned slightly pink. "Really? I only ever did that twice before you..."

_"You're kidding, right?" Harry asked, dumbstruck with disbelief._

_"No." Percy replied, a little icily, glaring daggers at the boy; he shied away slightly, as though endeavering to look a little less insulting._

_"I didn't mean it like that, Perce." The boy replied. "It surprised me. I mean, fifteen months, and they only ever kissed twice? It's no wonder -" He cut himself off before saying anything more. Percy, apparently, had heard the last few words; he closed his trunk very deliberately and fully turned to watch the younger boy. Silence reigned, but Percy did not look away. Shifting under the gimlet gaze, Harry finished, no louder than a whisper. "It's no wonder people think that Penelope's a bit - you know - asexual..."_

_"Well, I'm sorry, Harry." Percy muttered in response, finally tearing his gaze from the younger boy and picking his trunk from the bed with a rough hand. "I hope things go quite well with you and your young lady, but I believe this conversation has gone far enough. _Goodbye

_Harry watched as Percy roughly jostled him aside on his way out the door, biting his lower lip gently as he watched the Head Boy march down the stairs with a familiar determination. He hadn't meant to offend the older boy, but it appeared that it often turned out that way._


End file.
